I'm not sure how Basic Grey continues to please me after all these years, but the Origins paper line is no exception. I love the feel of spring with the colors of fall. It made for a fun, creative process and gave me an opportunity to scrap one of those rare pages about myself.

The layout below is titled "Multi-tasking is my life" and I think Mothers/Wives everywhere can relate. I cut out the middle section of the background paper and backloaded it with a different pattern. I brushed up on my hand sewing skills and sewed a zig zag stitch all around to separate the patterns. To complete the layout, I added the photo, all the journaling strips and cut flowers from one of the papers.

If you're having a hard time matching photos with this line, changing your photos to sepia tone is a great match for the colors.

I used Distress Ink by Ranger, for the edges of the journaling strips (Shabby Shutters and Tea Dye). They made a great blend that perfectly coordinated with the cut flowers.

For my other layout, I decided to cut the die cut paper up in sections since I had a similar die cut look above. Cut in sections, they made nice petals for a huge flower. For the center ring, I used the green checked paper and clear embossed it with a journaling stamp (by Stamper's Anonymous). I then inked over the entire ring with Shabby Shutters and Tea Dye Distress Ink. You can see how the embossed areas let the green paper show through from behind. I love this technique.

The rest of the layout is filled with a handmade stem flourish accented with lots of cut flowers from the paper line and doodling around the edges.

There are so many possibilities with this paper line. If you are short on time and would rather someone else do the planning for you, then the Shoppe is also carrying the Origins Scrapbook Page kit with designs for 4 scrapbook pages, found here.